Journal

following my after work ride to Brighton the week before I decided it was time to just get on and do it. I looked at the route and figured out I could get half way, covering around 75 miles on the first day, and then finish off on Day two going via the Two Tunnels near Bath.

For me, I love to kick off my Mondays in a new location every week (check out my Happy Monday videos over on Facebook), but I rarely fill my evenings with adventure. The odd 5–9 camp out, may be once every month or two, but never have I used that time to really travel and discover a new route or destination, knowing that I have a full week ahead of me.

A beautiful island, many hop over to enjoy sandy beaches, stunning views and an array of water sports to keep the whole family entertained. But rather than taking the car (supposedly taking a ferry across the Solent is one of the most expensive crossings per mile in the world!), if you opt for your bike it’s considerably cheaper and offers a great opportunity to explore the island in a different way to most visitors.

Don’t get me wrong. Inspiration is great for getting us to imagine a different future, it opens us up to consider alternative options and to believe that something which once seemed impossible, is suddenly in the realm of possibility.

Whether it’s 30 degrees and I’m paddling along the Caledonian Canal or just 12 degrees as I make my way along the Cornish coast, having supplies to keep me going during my little paddleboarding expedition this summer were vital.

It feels incredible to think what I’ve achieved, when there were so many moments at which I could have ducked out. And no one would have blamed me. It looked impossible. It looked like it wasn’t going to work.

This has been an incredible year for me and I had no idea it would pan out this way 12 months ago. It feels like most of the fun things that have happened were a result of me reaching out to someone when I didn’t think they would say yes. Whether that’s friends to join me on adventures, asking random strangers on Instagram to meet up or approaching various different organisations to pitch new opportunities.

When we think about coming up with a traditional New Years resolution it’s because we want to make a change. The issue is we’re assuming we know what the solution should be to that particular problem. We often come up with a big grand plan to solve it, with no mechanism for looking at whether this new approach is actually working for us. We’ve either kept at it, or we’ve failed.

I challenge you to make 2017 your year of little failures and little learnings and have a go at iterating your way to something new.

At this time of year, as everyone starts talking about Christmas decorations going up in November, “did you see the latest Christmas advert?!” and the need to get something sorted for New Years Eve, I find myself wanting to escape.